François Cevert

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François Cevert

Nationality Flag of France French
World Championship Career
Active years 1970 - 1973
Team(s) March, Tyrrell
Races 47
Championships 0
Wins 1
Podium finishes    13
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 2
First race 1970 Dutch Grand Prix
First win 1971 United States Grand Prix
Last win 1971 United States Grand Prix
Last race 1973 United States Grand Prix

Albert François Cevert Goldenberg (February 25, 1944 in Paris – October 6, 1973 at Watkins Glen) was one of the most colourful racing drivers of the early 1970s. In the tumultuous, tragic arena that was Formula One racing at the time, few showed more flair and promise, and no one ended his career more heartrendingly than Cevert, the son of a Paris jeweler and brother-in-law of Grand Prix driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise.

After winning the French Formula 3 Championship in 1968, Cevert (often spelled Cévert) joined the Tecno Formula 2 team and finished third overall in 1969, driving in the F2 class of the German Grand Prix. When Jackie Stewart had a hard time getting around Cevert in an F2 race at Crystal Palace the same year, Stewart told his team manager Ken Tyrrell to keep an eye on the young Frenchman.

The following year, when Johnny Servoz-Gavin suddenly retired from the Tyrrell Formula One team three races into the 1970 season, Tyrrell called upon Cevert to be his number two driver, alongside defending World Champion Stewart. Over the next four seasons, Cevert became the veteran Stewart's devoted protégé. After making his debut at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in Tyrrell's second customer March-Ford, he increased his pace and closed the gap to Stewart with virtually every race. He earned his first World Championship point by finishing sixth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

In 1971, with the Tyrrell team now building their own cars, Cevert finished second in France and Germany, both times behind team leader Stewart. Then, in the season-ending United States Grand Prix at the newly-extended Watkins Glen race course, the Frenchman earned his first and only Grand Prix win:

Having started from fifth spot, Cevert took the lead from Stewart on lap 14 as the Scot's tires began to go off in the 100° heat. At about half-distance, Cevert finally began to struggle with the same understeer that had plagued Stewart much earlier. Jacky Ickx was closing, and his Firestones were getting better as the race went on. On lap 43, Ickx set the fastest lap of the race, and the gap was down to 2.2 seconds. Then, on lap 49, the alternator on Ickx's Ferrari fell off, punching a hole in the gearbox and spilling oil all over the track! Denny Hulme's McLaren hit the oil and spun into the barrier, bending his front suspension. Hulme was standing beside the track when Cevert came by and also slid off and hit the barrier, but he kept going, now 29 seconds in the lead! Cevert coasted home, taking both hands off the wheel to wave as he crossed the line. [1]

François Cévert driving Matra 670 at the Nürburgring 1973
François Cévert driving Matra 670 at the Nürburgring 1973

Cevert became only the second Frenchman to win a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix (Maurice Trintignant won at Monaco in 1955 and 1958), and it was the high point of his career, helping him take third place in the 1971 Driver's Championship behind Stewart and Ronnie Peterson.

Great expectations for Cevert, Stewart and Tyrrell were not fulfilled in 1972 as Emerson Fittipaldi and Lotus won the Driver's and Constructor's Championships. Cevert finished in the points only three times, with second places at Belgium and the US, and a fourth at his home race in France at the Clermont-Ferrand circuit. One bright spot in a disappointing year for Cevert was his second place finish at the 24 hours of Le Mans, driving a Matra-Simca 670 with New Zealand's Howden Ganley.

Contents

[edit] Death

In 1973, the Tyrrell team was back on top in Formula One and Cevert showed he was capable of running with Stewart at almost every race. He finished second six times, three times behind Stewart, who acknowledged that, at times, the Frenchman had been a very "obedient" teammate. As Cevert began to draw even with Stewart's driving abilities, the Scot was secretly planning to retire after the last race of the season in the United States. For the 1974 season, Cevert would be Tyrrell's well deserving team leader.

Tragically, at Watkins Glen, with Stewart having already clinched his third World Championship, Cevert was killed during Saturday morning qualifying, while battling for pole position with Ronnie Peterson. In the fast right-left uphill combination called "The Bridge" Cevert's car was a little too much toward the left side, getting a bump from the kerbs described by Niki Lauda in his book The Art and Science of Grand Prix Driving as unbelievably dangerous. Due to the bump, Cevert's car swerved too much to the right-hand side of the track, where it touched the safety barriers causing the car to spin and crash into the barriers on the other side of the track at a near 90° angle, uprooting and lifting the barrier. Cevert died instantly of massive injuries inflicted by the barrier.

Jackie Stewart was one of the first on the scene of Cevert's accident and said later "They had left him, because he was so clearly dead." When practice resumed, Stewart went out on the track in his car on a personal fact-finding mission. His conclusion was that his preference was to take The Bridge complex in fifth gear in the Tyrrell, hence he would be at the low end of the engine's rev range. Cevert however preferred to use fourth gear and be at the top end of his engine's power range: it was always something of a compromise because of the need to accelerate through the combination of corners. Stewart noted that the Tyrrell always felt jumpy through this section of the Watkins Glen track owing to its short wheelbase; he felt that this was somewhat counteracted by driving in the higher gear even though this meant a time penalty if he got his line wrong through the corner. Thus Cevert's driving technique may have been a contributory factor in the accident.

Cevert was 29 years and 224 days old.

The son of Charles Goldenberg (1901-1985), François Cevert is buried in the Cimétière de Vaudelnay in the village of Vaudelnay, Maine-et-Loire. His grave is covered with a brass of fine black marble and a black relief attached to the wall behind showing his portrait.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key)

Yr Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Team WDC Points
1970 March SAF
 SPA
 MON
 BEL
 DUT
Ret		 FRA
11		 GBR
7		 DEU
7		 AUT
Ret		 ITA
6		 CAN
9		 USA
Ret		 MEX
Ret		 March 23 1
1971 Tyrrell SAF
Ret		 SPA
7		 MON
Ret		 DUT
Ret		 FRA
2		 GBR
10		 DEU
2		 AUT
Ret		 ITA
3		 CAN
6		 USA
1		 Tyrrell 3 26
1972 Tyrrell ARG
Ret		 SAF
9		 SPA
Ret		 MON
NC		 BEL
2		 FRA
4		 GBR
Ret		 DEU
10		 AUT
9		 ITA
Ret		 CAN
Ret		 USA
2		 Tyrrell 6 15
1973 Tyrrell ARG
2		 BRA
10		 SAF
NC		 SPA
2		 BEL
2		 MON
4		 SWE
3		 FRA
2		 GBR
5		 DUT
2		 DEU
2		 AUT
Ret		 ITA
5		 CAN
Ret		 USA
DNS		 Tyrrell 4 47

[edit] References

[edit] External link

Preceded by
Henri Pescarolo		 French Formula Three Champion
1968		 Succeeded by
François Mazet
Preceded by
Roger Williamson		 Formula One fatal accidents
October 7, 1973		 Succeeded by
Peter Revson
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